AED trainers or AED training devices are devices which simulate clinical AED's. Clinical AED's make use of adhesive pads to deliver the electrical therapy from the AED to a victim in cardiac arrest. The adhesive pads in AED training devices replicate the use of the adhesive pads used in a clinical AED, but do not deliver electrical therapy from the AED training device to the training manikin. Under a training scenario an AED trainer needs to simulate the actions and behavior of a clinical AED in order to provide the proper training to users of a clinical AED. For safety reasons, AED trainers do not have the capacity to delivery electrical therapy. Since AED trainers are used in conjunction with training manikins, and training manikins do not have the electrical impedance characteristics of a real person, AED trainers face the problem of simulating the immediate and proper response that an AED normally provides to a rescue user—which is that upon proper application of the pads to the indicated locations on the manikin or victim, the AED trainer or clinical AED each need to inform the user that the pads are properly placed and the device is ready for electrical therapy delivery. Since there are many varieties of training manikins on the market utilized for AED & CPR (cardio pulmonary resuscitation) training, and most are made of materials that are not electrically conductive (foam, plastic or resin, for example), there is no readily available means to transmit an electrical signal through the manikin once the 2 pads have been placed onto the manikin.
There have been a number of solutions proposed and developed to address this problem, but all involve some type of modification or additional component which is required to be used with the training manikin.
Some of the existing proposals and methods which have been attempted to solve the problem include the following:
Adding an electrically conductive material to the outside surface of the manikin, such that the training pads are able to detect when they come into contact with the manikin surface;
Adding an electrically conductive material to the inside of the manikin just underneath the surface of the manikin skin so an electrical signal can pass through the skin and travel between the 2 locations of the training pads when they are applied to the manikin;
Adding switches to the manikin which can detect the application of the training pads and electrically communicate with the AED trainer; and
Having the AED training instructor manually indicate to the AED trainer device using a button or other input means, once the training instructor has observed that the student has applied the training pads to the manikin properly.
Because training or sensing pads used on training manikins (and clinical AED pads used on patients) utilize an adhesive to provide attachment to the manikin (or the patient), each training pad and clinical AED pad is supplied on a storage liner which covers and protects the entire adhesive side or surface of the pad. To use the pad, the user simply peels the pad off the liner and places the pad—with the adhesive surface down—on the manikin. Training pads are typically reused a number of times until their adhesive begins to wear out or wear off. The liners are generally a smooth continuous surface as is the manikin skin, so there is no inherent structure on the pads to distinguish the difference between being mounted or adhered to the liner or being on the training manikin. An electrically conductive material could be added to the liner, which the training pad could sense, but this would not solve the problem since the modified training pad could only detect itself being removed from the liner, and not actually being applied to the manikin, which results in premature activation. Adding a switch to the training pads which can detect the liner on the pad is also not a viable solution since it faces the same problem of premature actuation once it is removed from the liner.